Daniel Yábar Interview - Skatepark builder

Interview with Daniel Yábar, Skatepark Architect. |  by Sebastião Belfort Cerqueira

Daniel Yábar’s skatepark designs have drawn much attention, revealing an unusual sensitivity to textures, colours, and surrounding spaces. In this interview he lets us know how his architectural ethos has more to do with giving the people what they need than necessarily creating masterpieces.

I’ve had the chance to read about your process of becoming an architect and designing skateparks in other interviews you’ve done, but I haven’t found one where you tell the other side of that story, that is, how you became a skater. Where and when did you start?

I started skating in Logroño, the capital of the Spanish region of La Rioja. I think I started when I was thirteen, more or less, after seeing the movie Thrashin’ [1986] with my friends. We decided we should see if we could get some skateboards. I found this Sancheski orange cruiser and that was my first step. Then we always went to the only place around that seemed skateable at all, the Plaza del Espolón. It’s a square in the centre of Logroño, where people still go to skate today. We didn’t do anything, we just cruised. Not much later we saw a guy there doing an ollie, just going up a little step, just jumping and landing and we were like “wow!”

That was the beginning. Logroño is a small town but there was a big boom in skateboarding. Suddenly there were like three or four different crews of people skating on different routes. That meant like 50 or 60 people skating in Logroño. The city was pretty small so we hung out all over the city, I mean, we knew the city to the millimitre, we knew each spot, each little place... We’d go all around the city, to the industrial park, pretty much everywhere just finding places to skate.

So you had a little skate scene in Logroño, that’s pretty cool. When was that, like the late 80s?

I think I was thirteen so... I’d say around 91. But we were the first generation in Logroño that ever skated. People there didn’t understand it, they’d be like “what are you kids doing here with those things?” I’m still friends with some of the guys I started skating with and some of them haven’t stopped skating. I live in Madrid now, but when I go to Logroño to visit my parents I still get to hang out with them and with the new generations.

  • "We knew the city to the millimitre, we knew each spot, each little place...
  • VISIT WEBSITE
I know you began designing skateparks as a trade after spending some years in another architect’s studio. That was some years ago, how long have you had your own studio?

I finished college in 2004, I think, yeah I’m pretty sure. I spent four years in that studio in Bilbao. They did a lot of singular projects, like wineries, football stadiums, bullrings, etc. The head of the studio was an architect from Bilbao called Diego Garteiz and he knew I was a skateboarder so he told me that if I knew of any skate-related projects, any skateparks or anything, that he’d be open to work on them in the studio. I did three or four skateparks in the studio, but then I moved to Madrid, I’d say around 2008.

So you’ve been on your own for over ten years now. I was looking at your website and all the projects you have there are of skateparks or skate plazas – do you still do typical architect stuff, like houses and offices and so on?

Well... sometimes I get some different projects. I designed the offices for the football federation of La Rioja, I also did the project for a local medical centre in a small town near Logroño, but, I mean, when you go down the way of a certain specialization, you have to let go of some of the other stuff. In the beginning you try to work as much as you can, but now I’m more focused on skateparks. I don’t know how to express this idea of specialization better. I guess in architecture, when you know how to design skateparks or houses, it doesn’t mean that you know how to design hospitals or stuff like that. So nowadays if someone offered me a project for a house I’d probably have to refuse it or refer them to a friend.

Then that means that you can have your studio running on skatepark projects, that must be a cool feeling.

Well, most of the projects are about the skatepark, but many of them include compatible uses, landscaping, integration with city planning. Sometimes you design a skatepark but it has to include an outdoor gym or a fitness trail, sometimes it’s not just a skatepark but it has to be a bike park too, or a garden... but yeah, all things surrounding a skatepark.

Many architects who have their own firms will say they only do their kind of singular designs, and maybe ten years from now I’ll be able to say something like that, but right now I think the skaters have to come first.

Do you have a team working with you?

I work on my own. In Spain we have a saying that helps me explain this: quien mucho abarca poco aprieta. [Don’t bite off more than you can chew.]

Yeah, I guess we have a similar one in Portuguese. What about the building part, do you have anything to do with the people who end up building the parks you’ve designed?

It depends on the management model. Many times the owner, the council, whoever is in charge only wants the design to begin with. Then they organize a public tender and the builders have to submit their proposals. That’s the most common model in Spain. Sometimes they say “ok, we want it designed and built”, and so the architects and engineers collaborate with the builders and submit joint proposals to the same tender.

Looking at your portfolio, one could say you have both the more traditional kind of skatepark and then the ones that I understand have drawn more attention to your work, which are more integrated into the urban landscape. Which of your projects do you feel blends in better with its surroundings?

I think a good example would be the one in Santa Cruz, in La Granja. Maybe also the skateplaza in Logroño or the Santa Lucia skatepark, in Vitoria. But it’s not that big of a deal for me. I’m not prejudiced in favour of the unique design, integrated kind of skatepark nor the more traditional, sports facility-type ones. It depends on the goals of the project. If the skaters or the council are asking you for a functional skatepark, it’s very egocentric of you to say “no no no, I don’t do traditional, I only make singular designs”, like you want to be the architect-designer. If they’re asking you for a traditional skatepark with a simple and functional design, then that’s what you have to give them. Many architects who have their own firms will say they only do their kind of singular designs, and maybe ten years from now I’ll be able to say something like that, but right now I think the skaters have to come first.

Places like Macba or Love Park are huge, they’re massive. Five times larger than most skateparks. How can you compete with that?

I get it. Actually I was thinking that it must be rare to get the opportunity to turn a regular city square into a skateplaza. How does that happen? Did you ever have to convince the people from city council, were they looking for that in the first place?

At some point, as an architect, you have the obligation to give the best possible advice to the skaters and decision makers. As an architect and a skater I have to tell them what I think is best. Sometimes they’ll say “no, I know what I want, I want a traditional, concrete skatepark, with fences around it.” I may try to tell them that that’s not the way skateboarding and contemporary skateparks are going, but they have the final say. Sometimes the local skaters and the local authorities know about skateboarding and where it’s headed, so you don’t really have to give them much advice. It depends on the project.

I remember the case in Santiago de Compostela. The skaters were skating this plaza for years that is not exactly in the centre but still in a good part of the city, behind the Galician Parliament. They had conflicts with the neighbours and people walking around with their kids and everything, so city hall wanted to take them out of there, build them a standard skatepark outside the city. The local skaters’ association tried to fight to stay in the plaza but the council wasn’t having it so they had to arrive at a compromise. The plaza was in this big park, inside of which we managed to find another plaza with granite floor that was completely abandoned. We did a little street course with rails and stuff, so in the end they had the same granite surface to skate and although they weren’t in the original plaza, which was skatestopped, they only had to move like 15 metres away from it.

Do you think that in the near future there’ll be a bigger overall sensitivity towards the benefits of having skateparks in livelier parts of the city, instead of being confined to urban voids?

I think there’s already some awareness and some sensitivity, as you say. Not only on the side of the skateboarding communities but also with the decision makers. When you are dealing with these decision makers, you find a little bit of everything. You find some people who are really well-informed and really know what the people want and then you find others that have no idea what we’re talking about. I think there is more awareness and, as time goes on, people learn about these things, also because of the olympics. People in general are more interested in skateboarding now that they’ve heard that it’s going to be an olympic sport, so they’re trying to figure out what it’s all about, what the skateboarding communities are looking for in terms of facilities and everything. I feel in general there is more and more knowledge about what skateboarders need.

Well, one thing is for sure, I think your skatepark designs really help in bridging that gap. If I was going to meet with city council tomorrow to get a skatepark built I know I’d take some pictures of your designs to show them how architecturally and visually rich a skatepark can become.

[Laughs] Thank you.

Moving on, does it ever happen to you, when you’re just walking around a city, that you look at some place and you immediately think it would be a perfect spot to transform into a skatepark?

Yeah, sure. It happens to me but I’m sure it happens to all the skatepark designers. It comes with the profession. Still, many times you see a really cool spot in the street and then, when you want to bring it into a skatepark design, you realize that this spot needs a lot of space. Nowadays skatepark design is going through a standardization, where every distance between features is really measured and so on. So when you see a cool spot that you’d like to adapt, often you find out you need a lot more space than you have, and if you need more space that means you won’t have room for all the standard features, you know, the hubba, the eurogap, the manual pad... You might have to sacrifice your whole design just because you found an amazing spot in some street in some city... it’s not as easy as it seems.

For example, in the Santiago plaza I was telling you about I included a reproduction of a famous street spot, this handraill in Málaga. It’s like a long ramp, then you have three stairs and there’s a long rail alongside. So when you get to the three stairs you can slide the end of the rail. This spot is amazing, it’s near the sea, this long, blue rail. Lots of pros have skated it. The thing is the ramp is so long you really need space if you’re going to try to reproduce it. However, in this case, in Santiago, I was working with one stipulation: that the skateplaza would be pedestrian-friendly. In order to make it safe for pedestrians, I had to follow the Spanish accessibility laws. Of course that ramp in Málaga was built according to these norms, because it’s in a public street. That, plus the shape of the area we were working with, made it possible to reproduce the street spot.

I was wondering, if you could choose any place in any city, maybe even a famous skate spot like Love Park or Macba, to make a project for, which would it be?

Well... the ones you’ve said are some of the more internationally recognized... but for example, the Macba plaza... you’re talking about 5000 square metres. The average skatepark will have an area closer to 1000 square metres, so the plaza is like five times bigger. It’s really difficult. But actually once I had this idea for the main space in Macba, where you have the long ledge and the gap, just by the entrance to the museum. I thought it would be pretty cool if it were a symmetrical spot. Because you have the ledge on one side and it determines what tricks you can do whether you’re regular or goofy, so it would be great if you had the same ledge on the other side.

But anyway, places like Macba or Love Park are huge, they’re massive. Five times larger than most skateparks. How can you compete with that? Just that main area of Macba is 1000 square metres. If you design a whole skatepark with just a ledge, a gap, and a low-to-high... well, people want more stuff.

Speaking of wanting more stuff, I have to ask you if there’s anything that you’re working on that we can know about, maybe something going into construction or about to open to the public?

Right now I’m working on the design for a skatepark bowl, in Tenerife, near La Granja. The city organized an opinion poll and they asked me for two designs: one was a granite skateplaza, the other was a bowl. So they had this poll and the bowl won.

Actually, I find that a little unexpected. I mean, here in Portugal the tendency is always more towards street skating. I’m pretty sure the street course would win here.

In this case the bowl won but I think because in Tenerife you already have some good street plazas. And also because you have a lot of surfers, you get people there that are into surfing or longboarding and those guys will also get in the pool to skate. I guess it wasn’t just skaters, the surfers may have helped to tip the scale.

Very well. Would you like to add anything to wrap this up?

Well... I don’t know... maybe I’d just like to go back to that idea we were talking about: I really don’t feel that all skateparks need to be this special, singular design that blends in perfectly with the urban landscape, but I’m also not of the opinion that they should be a detached, enclosed sports facility kind of thing. Both options are ok if they serve the needs of that particular community. If you ask me, I’d say the direction skateboarding is taking leans more towards the integrated kind of skatepark that is a part of the city, that is built with the city. That’s the opinion I think most skateboarders have... but you need everything. The city needs everything: the sports facility for training and competitions and the olympics and Street League, but also the plaza in the town, integrated into the life of the city. The ideal would be to have everything.

Yeah, I guess that would be perfect. Thank you very much, Daniel.

Thank you.

By Sebastião Belfort Cerqueira

I like skateboarding as a hobby, not a job

William Montgomery rides particularly good. Or better: Big Chicken shreds, already with a signature. He’s just seven years old but has already visited more than 75 skateparks from coast to coast in the United States of America, during his school holidays. “It’s fun to roll quietly through airports”, he says, never forgetting the most important thing: skateboarding is for fun. Meet this very special Trucks and Fins’ skatepark hunter. So, William, first tell us about your nickname: why ‘big chicken’, what’s the story behind it? My dad got a Big Chicken Beer sticker from henhouse brewery in Santa Rosa, and I put it on my helmet, and we decided it should be the name for my Instagram account.   Explain a bit more about the drawing on your helmet. Who made it? It is a Nutcase helmet with a bunch of travel and skate stickers on it that I have collected. You have visited about seventy-five parks. How did you manage your time with school stuff and other activities? Exploring the Bay Area on weekends (we have a lot of spots) and taking my board with me on holidays. Fun to roll quietly through airports. Can you choose the best skatepark from all these seventy-five? No, but I really liked Vans Huntington Beach, Woodward Tahoe, Fremont, Cookeville and Potrero.  In the last couple of months, you have travelled from coast to coast. Was that all planned? How did you program your tour? I just go wherever my mom plans (we like to travel) and then my dad helps me go to skateparks while there :) When did you start to skate? Tell us a bit of your personal story, and about your dreams regarding skateboarding. I started in April 2020. I saw my friend Jack’s skateboard and wanted one, so my parents got a penny board for me, and I used it at Shredders Skate Camp. Big thanks to Chris there for encouraging me.  He said I was good and my dad’s friend Mark gave me a bigger board. Reese Forbes then taught me to go fast and the guys at Potrero help me. I like skateboarding as a hobby, not a job.   Considering we are a community-focused directory, tell us how important are skatepark hunters like you for the people around the world who like to find new spots to ride and new places to discover.  My dad likes Trucks and Fins, especially when we travel to new places like Portugal, so we don’t travel to a boring one. I like to see parks to ride before going, so I can imagine what I can do there. Instagram Big Chicken

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My top 3 skateparks in the world - by Pro Skater Dora Varella

So what are the favourite parks of famous, professional skaters? We reached out to one of the best skaters in the international circuit to ask for her top 3 skateparks in the world, outside of her native country, Brazil. USA, Norway, and Dubai are the hotpots on the map. 3 bucket list skate travel destinations by Brazilian pro skater Dora Varella. If you are a top Brazilian skater, it means you are one of the best in the world. The ‘Brazilian storm’ is no longer a slogan just for surfers, because boys, girls, men and women born in this great country are dominating the skateboarding scene thanks to a unique soul and an expansional energy. Dora Varella is a Brazilian skater who is currently killing it, with her skating and contagious vibe. At the age of 21, she’s on top10 World Skate ranking. She has recently won the STU Park in Brazil (the Brazilian circuit) in Criciúma, and the qualification to Paris-2024 is one of her main goals. Dora Varella by Júlio Defeton Dora finished 7th in park competition in Tokyo-2020 Olympics. She was this close to reach the podium, but there was another trophy that she and the other finalists won: a fair play award for the empathy toward Japanese Misugo Okamoto, raising her on their shoulders after she failed an important manoeuvre that could get her a medal. She started to cry immediately, but thanks to this natural and spontaneous collective attitude the tears were gone and Misugu started to smile again. This is the kind of image that makes skateboarding different from other sports. And that’s why we find on Dora Varella’s official website this headline - that can summarize the spirit of something that is much more than a sport: “Skateboarding has taught me many lessons: cheering for others doesn’t stop you from winning; treating all people with respect despite the differences transforms your own existence; if you fall, get up, like in everything else in life”. Dora Varella by Eduardo Brás Millions of skaters fall and get up again like her, and many of them are always looking for new spots outside their cities, countries and even continents. Like Dora, too. With eleven years of skateboarding experience and being a professional since 2017, this pro skater from São Paulo was asked by Trucks and Fins to choose her top 3 skateparks in the world, outside Brazil, that could inspire users around the globe. She kindly said yes. So these are ‘Dora Varella’s top 3 skateparks in the world’: XDubai skatepark A 3,200 m2 facility in Dubai, the largest in the United Arabe Emirates. Set on a beachfront location, it’s good for beginners and professionals. Definitely a must-go spot. Visit XDubai skatepark Oslo Skatehaal indoor skatepark A 2,300m2 indoor skatepark with a 840m2 outdoor area in Voldsløkka, Oslo, capital of Norway. Ordered by the local City Hall, it features a full-size vert, the kind of challenge for someone who has already dropped Bob Burnquist’s ramp in California. Visit Oslo skatehaal California Training Facility Located in California, USA. It’s a high-performance centre developed specifically for skateboarding, incubating future world champions. But is has room for amateurs, throughout special programs designed to teach everyone who dares to get their feet on a skateboard. Visit California Training Facility skatepark Dora Varella by Anderson Tuca Take the advice. Valeu, Dora! See all the skateparks in the world Instagram Dora Varella

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The Mystery of the Belmonte Bowl in Portugal

Skateboarding in Portugal Quandary in the Quarry - The Mystery of the Belmonte Bowl.  It’s a kidney shaped bowl, wrapped around a half-pipe that leads to a fullpipe ending in a cradle BELMONTE SKATEPARK The village of Belmonte (population: ca. 3500) lies towards the northeastern part of Portugal. It’s head of a rural municipality where you can find about 54 people per square kilometre and where they’re highly likely to be advanced in years, as the ratio of elderly to young people is close to 3:1. Towards the northeastern part of the village, not far from the local Intermarché supermarket, there’s a small residential neighbourhood facing an abandoned quarry. Inside this quarry sits one of the biggest skate bowls in the world.   It’s a kidney shaped bowl, wrapped around a half-pipe that leads to a fullpipe ending in a cradle. The pictures should help make this clearer. It’s close to 4 metres deep and has almost a full metre of vert all around. There are oververt extensions over a metre tall. It’s a beast of a thing, especially when you consider the standards of skateboarding and skateparks in Portugal. Anyone that sees it immediately asks himself “What the hell is this doing here?” And it seems to me to be a fair, reasonable question. Anyway, when faced with a Portuguese skate-related mystery, there’s always one thing you can do, and that’s call up Luís Paulo. This dude was the first Portuguese skater ever to get sponsored, one of the few to have met Tony Hawk and the only one to have done an aerial over him, so he’s been in the game for a bit and knows his shit. I thank him for giving us the lowdown on this one. Apparently the whole idea came from the Belmonte Municipality. They are close to Serra da Estrela, the only ski resort in Portugal, where there’s also quite a bit of downhill biking and hang gliding going on in the summer, so they figured a skatepark would attract some of that crowd and get some more visitors to come to the village. Not a bad intuition other skateparks in Portugal See all SKATEPARKS However, as it often happens, they didn’t consult any skateboarders before diving into the project. At the time, the largest skatepark in the world had just been built in Shanghai (SMP Skatepark – it’s since been surpassed by the one in Guangzhou) and the architects hired to do the job in Belmonte decided to take inspiration from one of its sections. They did an impressive job: the bowl is nicely tucked inside the quarry walls, the transition is good and the full pipe and cradle look amazing. The only problem is that vert skaters in Portugal are thin on the ground. They did build a street section above the bowl, but unfortunately they didn’t study this subject as well as the transition bit, and it’s just unskateable. As it is, the Belmonte Skatepark, which was inaugurated in April of 2011, is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary with a still pristine coping. We have seen examples of what can go down at that bowl when the right people find it, but they’ve been few and far between. In 2012, Jake Phelps and the Thrasher crew (P-Stone, Rhino) came by and brought Peter Hewitt, Pedro Barros, and Grant Taylor for some serious ripping. One year later the Carve Wicked team (Sam Pulley, Alex Perelson, Sam Beckett, Rob Smith, etc.) also dropped some hammers. But the place can take it. In fact, it’s begging for it. If you’re into big walls, start planning that trip and type this into your GPS.

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10 best skateparks in Spain - Discover what spots are bucket list travel destinations

How do you define the best 10 skateparks in a country? It's definitely not an easy task to choose only 10 out of a total of 1071 skateparks we currently have found in Spain. The last couple of years I have been travelling quite a bit around Spain, mapping out spots for Trucks and Fins and in total I was able to visit and take photos of 425 skateparks. "So what are my top 10 spots in Spain" people ask me regularly. Making a top 10 list, I guess, also depends a bit if you have a preference for street or transition skateboarding. In my case, I like my bowls... So, here they go. Mar Bella skatepark Located next to the C. A. Canaletes Sant Martí sports centrum in Barcelona you'll find our first bucket list spot: Mar Bella skatepark. The skatepark is made up of a bowl, an enormous snake run and small street area.  Visit Mar Bella skatepark Camas skatepark Another spot I personally think deserves a spot on the top 10 is Camas skatepark near Sevilla, built in 2019 and designed by Daniel Yabar. Camas skatepark is a large concrete skatepark featuring a bowl and a street area packed with obstacles and lines.  Visit Camas skatepark Torrejón de Ardoz skatepark Torrejón de Ardoz skatepark is a 1400 square meter concrete park, featuring a bowl and large street area, built and designed by ZUT skateparks in 2008. The skate park is located next to a large and extensive pumptrack.  Visit Torrejon de Ardoz skatepark Cullera skatepark South of Valencia is another transition focused park I really enjoyed with a 5 star vibe: Cullera skatepark, built by Copinramps in 2019. Fun park to cruise along, with some unic obstacles, but difficult to skate when it's crowded.  Visit Cullera skatepark Guineueta Canyelles Skatepark  Another spot you can't miss in Spain, is Guineueta Canyelles skatepark in Barcelona. The skatepark was built by IOSkateparks and Ramps and Vulcanoskateparks and features three bowls, a long snake run, and a street area.  Visit Guineueta Canyelles skatepark Nepal skatepark If you like transition and want to see some local rippers in action, then make sure to head over to Extremadura Park in Madrid. Nepal skatepark in Alcobendas, designed by Daniel Yabar, is one of the most historic skateparks in Spain. It is known amongst locals as “Nepal” because of the extreme cold in the winter and views of the mountains near Madrid. Visit Nepal skatepark Tres Cantos skatepark Tres Cantos skatepark is a 1000 square meter gem built by ZUT skateparks in 2018. The park features a concrete skatepark and an asphalt pumptrack.  Visit Tres Cantos skatepark Ruben Alcantara Malaga skatepark Ruben Alcantara Malaga skatepark is a 10,000 square meters sports facility for BMX, Skate, Roller and Scooter. The skatepark features a worldwide famous bowl designed by the two-time world champion Rider Rubén Alcántara, a halfpipe, miniramp, a street plaza, concrete pumptrack and a BMX dirt track with three lines. Visit Ruben Alcantara skatepark La Kantera Skatepark La Kantera is Spain's most inconic skatepark, aka Algorta park, built in 1987, thanks to the initiative of a group of local surfers and skaters. In the beginning legends like Txus Domínguez, Alain Goikoetxea, Ivan Fano, Afonso Fernandez etc turned La Kantera into the Mecca of skate in Spain, inspiring the following generations of skaters. 35 years later the park is still a worldwide reference for its radical and creative approach to skateboarding. Visit La Kantera skatepark Ramputene DIY skatepark In the Basque country, in Donostia San Sebastian, located under a bridge overpass you have Ramputene DIY skatepark that definitely deserves a place in the top 10 ten because of all the love and work put into this spot. Don't forget to support the local cause and keep it clean. Visit Ramputene DIY skatepark See all skateparks in Spain

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A skateboard is the best thing you can take with you on travel adventures

Trucks and Fins welcomes Bros Around The Globe who will share with us their inspiring travel adventures. In their first blog you will get a comprehensive perspective on how traveling and skateboarding share the same ‘mantra’: freedom and connecting people. So simple. So pure. So healthy. If you’ve stumped upon this, chances are you’re thinking about bringing your skateboard with you on your next trip. And if you haven’t thought about packing it, you should, because you’ll probably regret it if you don’t. As a skater, a skateboard is the best thing you can take with you on a travel adventure, besides well, your skate shoes, of course. Whether you’re heading out to the next town over or abroad to a new country when you take your board with you, the possibilities are endless, and Trucks and Fins can navigate the skate along the way or even help find a place to stay.  Though it may feel awkward to carry and seem like extra weight at first, the benefits of bringing your skateboard will soon reveal themselves in more ways than one. Between waiting for buses, taxis, trains, and all the downtime that travel provides, your board is sure to keep you occupied when you're not seeking out new skate spots or exploring a new city on four wheels. With a board in tow, you have the ability to get from point A to point B, all while expressing the creative outlet we call skateboarding. As you hit the streets to take in the new sights, sounds, and smells, the pure joy from kicking, pushing, and rolling in a foreign place is a feeling second to none.  “Skaters respect other skaters no matter where they may find themselves in the world and there’s a special connection in a shared passion and lifestyle” Besides skating legendary spots, parks, and plazas, you’ll quickly learn your skate doubles as a universal language for making new friends. Not to mention it helps you navigate language barriers and tap into skating’s tight-knit subculture. Skaters respect other skaters no matter where they may find themselves in the world and there’s a special connection in a shared passion and lifestyle. Skating knows no boundaries, no borders, nor skin colour because every skater knows how much, blood, sweat, tears, and time goes into the learning process. When you meet other skaters, there’s an unspoken bond that brings high fives and high vibes in whatever corner of the globe you may find yourself in.  Skating can be a tool to clear one’s mind, let off steam, challenge yourself, be present, and rediscover the learning process. Besides helping you get around, it’s a useful tool to have when traveling long-term and can be all the above and more. You may even inspire others to get on a board or help a groom cruise for the first time. Each skate mission will give you a glimpse into the local skate culture and diversity of skaters worldwide. You’ll meet new friends, skate legendary spots you can only dream of, and make memories to last you a lifetime. All made possible by a wooden toy and the desire to ride.  “Becoming friends with locals is always a powerful travel experience, leaving you with the feeling that you were fully immersed and a part of the city” When you arrive at a new destination, just show up at the local, and you’ll be in the neighbourhood crew before you know it. Young or old, beginner or professional, skateparks serve as places for people of different backgrounds to interact with each other. When you’re on the road, stopping by the skatepark or DIY spot is one of the best ways to take in the vibe of a unique place and meet new people. No matter where you are in the world, skaters are gonna skate. Becoming friends with locals is always a powerful travel experience, leaving you with the feeling that you were fully immersed and a part of the city, town, or village you were visiting. On your journey, you can’t forget to make a stop to support the local skate shop. Around the world, skate shops serve as a catalyst for developing and sustaining the local skate community. It's a place to gather and chop it up to gain some insight into what you should really see and do in a new place. When traveling, the best advice is always from people who actually live there. A skate shop is the root of a city’s skate culture, and it brings people together. Skate shops are much more than a storefront, they support real people and put their money back into the local skate scene. Skate shops around the world always have a welcoming atmosphere that illustrates just how vibrant the skate community is. “Travel and skating are all about freedom, creativity, and thinking outside the box. When you combine the two, you’ll experience the best of both worlds” Traveling with a board taught me how skateboarding and traveling are similar in many ways. Through both, you must be present and only concentrate on the now. Skateboarding, like traveling, has always taught me about patience, persistence, never giving up, and mental toughness. Both prepare you to adjust when a mistake arises and to keep trying when something doesn't go your way. They teach you to adapt when things don't go correctly and push you out of your comfort zone to try new things. On the road or on your board, there’s a humbling feeling when you fail or fall down, leaving you to get back up and do it again through sheer determination.  Freedom, creativity, and individuality are values of skateboard culture. There is no question that skaters are unrelentingly dedicated to the progress of the sport and welcome anyone who has the courage to get on board. The skate community is built on mutual respect. Instead of one-upping each other, skaters continually encourage each other and embrace their differences, something ever so prevalent when you travel the world with your board. Travel and skating are all about freedom, creativity, and thinking outside the box. When you combine the two, you’ll experience the best of both worlds.  So when it comes to packing for that next trip, make sure you leave enough room to bring your board. Your skateboard will take you to places you could only dream of and give you memorable experiences that will stay with you long after your adventure is concluded. With 85 million skaters around the world, you’ll be sure to find your tribe when you travel, and all you’ll need is your board.  Website Bros around the Globe Instagram Bros around the globe

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The New Milharado skatepark in Portugal is almost ready

FRESH Wasteland concrete in Mafra, Portugal. We reached out to João Sales of Wasteland Skateparks to find out more.  Introduce us to the park - tell us its name, where it is, what kind of park will it be (more street-oriented, just a bowl, a plaza...), its approximate dimensions, if it's already open to the public, that sort of stuff. The initial idea was to build a bowl in the Parque Desportivo Municipal de Mafra sports complex. The project was handed out to a random architect, but the measurements were all wrong and the plan was a bit of a mess. That's when we were contacted to do a budget for the project. We told the city hall that we know the local skater community well. Building a huge bowl in that area would be a mistake, because we have build a flow bowl nearby in Venda do Pinheiro. The boys in the area need some street obstacles there too. So, later the contractor asked us to build a different thing. We made a lot of different proposals and the city hall kept on shrinking the area, until they accepted the final project. There is still no date for the official opening, but it's going to be soon, somewhere in August! The concrete is ready, but the park around it still needs it final touches. So hold your horses for a couple more days. Is there any feature that you're particularly happy with, that came out really nice or is really fun to skate? We kind of feel sorry about the space and feel frustrated because all the decisions made did not evolve the skater community in the Mafra area. Anyway, we were able to turn a small park into a fun little set of good quality concrete.  Any dream trick or link you'd like to see go down in any of the park's features or areas? We hope to see happy faces at the park. Hopefully the park will provide an area were local kids can progress. That would be a "dream trick" for us. Visit Mafra Skatepark Visit Wasteland Skateparks

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